The Age Old Question
by Inferna Firesword
Summary: What do you get when you combine the powers of a Battlekey, a Kanohi Olmak, and the psychic bond between two feuding siblings? All hell - and Karzahni - breaking loose. Rated for swearing, both human and Bionicle in nature; ties into H&H saga.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Location: Modulon 5, Blue Sentient Homeworld**

Even in ruins, the city was breathtaking. A monument to the ancient race of builders that had created the Multiverse, Modulon 5 had, in its prime, been a haven for artists, scientists, and philosophers. When it had still been whole, it had been the gem city of the Blue Sentient crown, its inhabitants working, playing, living – all to enhance their magnum opus.

But now they were gone, their remnants scattered across what they had built, only one truly known to have survived the invasion of savage, mutant animals known as the Vandals, on a quest for building empires. The surviving Blue Sentients were exiles, hiding from those that hunted them and had, in turn, ousted the Vandals from their homeworld. Even though those invaders rarely appeared planetside after their explosive appearances, the Vandals had no wish to encounter them again.

Hence, there were no witnesses to the opening of a portal. A blue-tinged vortex, lightning weaving through the cyclone of power, spun clockwise to show a blurry image of a red landscape, which abruptly became flashed out as two vehicles passed through the hole in the Multiverse's weave. Its purpose fulfilled, the doorway sealed as the drivers continued down the streets at breakneck pace, weaving between the giant pieces of rubble that had fallen down.

Up close, the grim nature of the cars became obvious – they were red and silver in color, the scheme designed in a manner that implied that the cars were build from the steel bones of blood-splattered enemies. The smaller of the two was a mono-wheel, a gyroscopic ride that forced the driver to lie on their stomachs while steering. It companion looked like the insect-centric spawn of a monster truck and an all-terrain vehicle, its six spidery legs ending in giant wheels. Two fangs positioned beneath the cab completed the sinister façade.

On the simultaneous whims of the drivers, the cars braked, coming to a stop near the ruins of a once-great skyscraper. The drivers stepped out of their vehicles and out into the dim twilight; a pair of scarlet-black humanoids that had eyes burning with malicious intent. The male half of the duo was skinny and long-limbed, his head topped by a dome-like protrusion that resembled a hat. His companion was a thin-faced female, her body similar to that of a well-figured human woman. Her face was ringed by fiery spikes that resembled hair, and like her companion, her teeth mainly consisted of pearly fangs.

They were Red Sentients, the twin race of the Blues that had once lived in Modulon 5. The relationship between the species had hardly been a case of opposites attract – for as long as there had been the two kinds of Sentients, there had been war between them, usually caused by the Reds. They hadn't fared much better than the Blues as a result: only five of them had been spared from an event that had frozen the rest of their kind, and that same group had only recently been awakened from their cryostasis in different places in the Multiverse. Their own planet (the others of their race still frozen in time on the surface) had fallen into the hands of a race they had once commanded, and only within the last month or so had they regained control over the Sark.

Looking around at the city ruins, the female made a gagging noise in her throat brought about more by the buildings than the destruction caused to them. Going back to the reason they had come, she began treading through the ruins on high-heeled feet. "Any new readings?" she called towards her partner.

He shook his head, moving with the quick, deliberate motions of a giant jungle cat. "Kytran not see source," he replied in his usual broken, third-person speech. While all of the Red Sentients currently alive were undeniably dangerous and ruthless, the fact Kytran couldn't be bothered with stringing together a proper sentence attested to how detached he was to civilization.

Left with that decisive answer, the female – known by her allies and enemies alike as Kyburi – went back to combing the rubble, using her eyes as well as her internal scanners to look. While she had known Kytran for years, she still had no idea if his manner of speaking was because of a glitch in his system, or something he did on purpose. And quite honestly, she couldn't care less about it.

The object of their search was an energy source they had detected from their homebase, hidden deep in the Multiverse. Modulon 5 was supposed to be dead, save for the energy streaming from the Cortex, so any other supply that they detected was of deep interest to the last active Red Sentients. The leader of the group, Krytus, had dispatched Kyburi and Kytran to investigate and – if possible – bring it back to base.

At this point, it was looking like the whole thing was becoming a fool's errand. (Patience was not Kyburi's strong point, preferring instant gratification.) On one hand, she was disappointed – if the source had been as powerful as the scanners had indicated, it would be quite useful against Sage, Krytus' meddling twin sister, and her band of Human champions. On the other hand, though, the pugnacious female would enjoy telling Kyrosis that his precious machines had failed again.

Lost in those thoughts as she methodically combed through the wreckage, the abrupt, off-the-charts energy flash that appeared on her scanners surprised her to the point of making her stumble backwards. Recovering both balance and composure in a hurry, she pinpointed the origin and began flinging boulders away from it.

"Kytran!" she called as she labored. The male abandoned his work in time to be beside her when she removed a dull-grey mask from the ruins, somehow still intact despite the destruction that had surrounded it. The top of it was narrow, a pair of eye slits cut into the metal, while the bottom was wider; the main attraction there was a pair of extending pieces of metal that curved out and around like the mandibles of a beetle. The empty eyeholes stared blankly at the two Red Sentients, and while both were battle-hardened warriors that cheated death on a near-daily basis, they couldn't help but feel ill at ease looking at it for too long.

"Sark plate?" Kytran suggested, referring to the race of robots they commanded.

Kyburi shook her head in reply. "It doesn't look anything like a Sark faceplate." After a quick scan, she added, "It's the energy source, too – but it's giving off more than even Zemerik could, and this isn't hadron energy it uses."

For a moment, they stood and considered the thing they had found. As if to mock them, the mask/helmet/faceplate almost seemed to consider them right back. _Well? What are you going to do? _it appeared to be asking in a smug, condescending tone.

The thing was Kyburi didn't like being talked down very much. Neither did Kytran.

Abruptly, the stick-chested male whirled and made his jerky way back to the mono-wheeled Vylirex. When it came to communication, sometimes the actions he made spoke volumes louder than his words. Right now, he was indicating that he had no interest in trying to figure out what they had unearthed on a planet they both hated. He didn't care if they brought it home or not, but he was going back.

Kyburi gathered the artifact under her arm and bounded back to her six-legged Ventikus, rising into the cab by way of the convenient lift. Placing the thing onto her legs in the cramped space, she revved up the engine and steered back towards the portal's opening point, quickly exceeding what Humans knew as a "legal highway speed".

In regards towards finding and recovering the power source they had located, the mission was successful. However, since they had no idea what artifact was and what it did, the pair had to leave that metaphorical box unchecked. Krytus wouldn't be happy about that, but at this point, any energy source they could get their claws on would be accepted.

Activated by the identity modules in their engines, the portal reopened, showing another view of the claret landscape. With a pair of finely-tuned roars, the two vehicles leapt forward, vanishing through the tear that sealed behind them.

**XxX**

**Author's Note: **I never set out to write a Bionicle-BF5 crossover, but here we are. If parts you already know of seem overly descriptive to you, I apologize, but I am attempting to make sure that all readers – including those that might follow one franchise and not the other – have an idea of what the story is about. For more information, I suggest Wikipedia for BF5 information and BionicleSector01 for the other set. (I warn you, the latter site is gigantic but very accurate.)

**Timeline: **In the BF5 franchise, Krytus and the Red Sentient 5 have been awakened for over a month; AJ Dalton and Tezz Volitov have both joined the BF5. In the Bionicle world, the Great Catalysm occurred about 857 years prior, and the Dark Hunter-Brotherhood War has been going on for as long a time.

**Disclaimer: **I will make no attempt to try and convince you that I own the _Bionicle _and/or _Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 _franchises. However, there are certain locations, concepts, and characters (mostly on the Bionicle side of the story) that are my products of my imagination, and those I hold ownership over.

Thanks again for reading. =D

-Inferna Firesword


	2. Transform and Rollout

Transform and Rollout

**Location: Handler's Corner, Earth**

On the surface, the garage located on the town's outskirts was nothing to pay close attention to – unless you needed a bit of car work done. It was the only car workshop in town, the brainchild of one Vert Wheeler, but since the town itself was barely a blip on a driver's map, most people just cruised right by without making a stop at Zeke's Diner. Vert himself was a pretty good guy, and a laid-back dude to boot – he didn't care if the out-of-towners wouldn't give him the time of day; he preferred the business of his town buddies anyway.

However, a lot of his time was being taken up by something other than engine problems and paint jobs nowadays. If an observer could see beneath the floors of his garage, they would've seen why.

Here, hidden from the prying eyes of civilization, was an underground building straight out of a high-budget sci-fi movie, the bright lights illuminating lifts, a medical bay, and a tricked-out garage that would put the one upstairs to shame. The structure – known by the residents as the Hub – was home to Vert, seven of his Human friends, and one other very unique lifeform.

The Blue Sentient Sage, her lithe body hovering a foot or so off the floor as usual, was hard at work on another of her pet projects. Like a lot of the things she built, it was to help her friends, the Humans that were helping her fight Krytus – called the Battle Force 5 after she had brought the original six members together. Unlike the giant, tube-like mechanisms she used to add upgrades to their vehicles, or the machine she had built to manufacture binary fusion pods, she was using her own fingers and more delicate tools for this task. A Human would compare the expression on her face to that of a diamond cutter, hard at work on a stone that would be worth billions if she did it correctly – but would be worth much less if she made the slightest slip.

In the back of her mind, buzzing like a hive of angry wasps, was what made her existence nearly intolerable. Krytus was hunting her, seething with revenge over what she had done to the other Red Sentients prior to his imprisonment in the Krypt Zone. That was bad enough, knowing that he was searching for a way to find Earth's coordinates without rest. The fact that her telepathic link to him was fully active again gave the normally serene Blue Sentient what Humans called "the chills," since it was potentially deadly to have a psychic bond to her would-be killer.

Her systems alerted her to the access tunnels to the Hub were opening, causing her to tense in natural apprehension, but when the security functions reported the seven cars that were driving down, she relaxed and returned to work. She could sense the figures inside it, could tell what the vehicles were, and she knew that – for now – there was no threat to her.

The vehicles that roared in and parked in their usual spots were ones that could make even the most cotton-mouthed car enthusiast drool uncontrollably. They looked like prototypes that were at the top of their game – sports cars, motorcycles, tanks, and even what looked like the icy-blue lovechild of a snowplow, a drill, and a digger.

And from them came her own – the warriors she had brought together to combat the Reds, the Sark, and the Vandals. Dressed in skin-tight battlesuits, each bringing their own unique talents and personalities to the group, they were laughing together as they returned from a training session in Handler's Corners salt flats, excitedly recounting their favorite moments from a game they called "Capture the Battlekey."

After listening for a few moments, she came to the conclusion that she did not need to chime in on their practice, and returned her attention to the visor she was working on, though she kept her audio receptors open and listening. From what she gathered, the team led by AJ Dalton had defeated the team led by Vert Wheeler in their game, and now Vert, Stanford Rhodes, the Cortez brothers, and Tezz had to pay for lunch at Zeke's Diner – or, as some of them called the food served there, "'za.'" Sage had never understood the appeal that the flat, sauce-covered dough-disks had for her friends, even after a year working with them, but whenever they took off to the diner, she just smiled and nodded like she knew _exactly _what they were talking about.

Still ragging their opponents and friends, the BF5 dispersed into their rooms to change into their street clothes. Tezz, she noted, was a trifle reluctant to leave the Hub, but not because he didn't want to pay – it was because Tezz Volitov didn't leave the Hub much to begin with. The Splitwire's driver was more reserved and introverted than the others on the team – especially in contrast to AJ and Spinner Cortez, who got overexcited on a near-daily basis – but with a bit of prodding, Agura Ibadlen and Sherman Cortez managed to convince their friend to go along.

Vert alone hung back. Instead of immediately going to his rooms, he wandered over to where Sage was at work. Knowing that Vert would want to talk to her – and not just about shop matters – Sage set aside her tools, feeling a Human-like sense of relaxation as she put them away for now.

On the floor, the Human watched his friend hover down to his level, and felt the usual wash of peacefulness as he looked into her aquamarine eyes. All of the Battle Force Five's members had their own personal attachments to the Blue Sentient, but his connection was stronger than all the others, as he had been the one to stumble into a Battlezone on accident, just in time to save her from Captain Kalus and his Vandals and bring her to Earth's relative safety.

Ever since Krytus had been reawakened, though, she had become far more precious to him and the team, as did keeping the portals to their homeworld closed to outsiders. Sage was all that stood between her twin brother and his domination of the Multiverse, and the BF5 was all that stood between her and Krytus's gang.

"How did the practice go, Vert?" she asked in her synthesized voice, which resembled the calm AI tones from various science-fiction movies – _which is probably what our lives have become now, _he thought humorously.

"It went great," he replied, smiling. "Tezz, Zoom, and Stan didn't try to go lone wolf on their teams for once. I think Krytus'll have one nasty surprise when we fight him again. What are you working on?"

Sage had known _that _particular question had been coming right away; the rest of the conversation had been merely small-talk. "Curious how you ask directly after you mention my brother, when this has quite a bit to do with him," she said, calling down her project so Vert could get a better look.

To the golden-haired Human, it appeared to resemble a visor similar to the one given to him by Sage, directly after she had upgraded his original vehicle into the Saber. However, instead of looking like a pair of un-tinted sunglasses, it wrapped completely around the wearer's head, with a screen of liquid crystal covering most of the head's upper half. "Does it do anything?" he asked – Tezz, Sherman, or Spinner might've been able to identify the function, but he wasn't nearly as tech-savvy.

"A prototype for a neural enhancer," she replied, holding it like it was a bar of gold. "I have almost completed it. When worn, a Human such as yourself would be able to tap into my telepathic link with Krytus, and perhaps be able to steal glimpses of his location or what he is thinking."

Once again Vert thanked his lucky stars that his team had Sage around to help them – he doubted even Sherman could build something like this to help them lock down on Krytus alone. "When should it be done?"

"Most likely by daybreak tomorrow. Once I finish, I will run a few safety checks on it, then we may test it. If you wish, I will allow you to attempt to use it first."

"Why me, and not Sherman or Tezz?"

"My twin has an exceptional loathing of you – the glimpses I have had into your mind have told me he sees you as his greatest obstacle to getting to me. While you know much of him, it would do well to better understand your enemy."

They might've said more, but just then Agura returned from her rooms, dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and a green hoodie. She didn't say anything – just glanced at the pair, smiled in that knowing way of hers, then made her way back to the Tangler – but both realized that if Agura was already in her street clothes, the others couldn't be far behind. Vert quickly raced off to change, pausing only give an affirming gesture to Sage as she floated back up to return to work, looking so much like a blue, benevolent, two-armed incarnation of the goddess Kali.

**XxX**

**Location: Mados, Red Sentient Homeworld**

Kyburi and Kytren didn't talk much on their portal crossing to their own world, as was normal for the pair. Kytren only spoke when absolutely necessary, and Kyburi was focused on the faceplate she carried in the Venikus. While driving, she had run a few tests on the device, but with the limited technology of her self-generated vehicle, she could draw no conclusive results by the time they arrived in Mados.

Mados was one of the largest cities on the Red Sentient Homeworld, their equivalent to Modulon 5. It was Kyburi's home turf, the city she had resided in before she had joined Krytus in his final rally against the Blues. It wasn't wrecked the same way Modulon 5 was, but to her, it might as well be.

As they wove through the twisting streets, they passed the Red Sentients that had not been as fortunate as the Red Sentient 5: the ones that had been Sage's victims when she had utilized the power of the Double Helix Crystals. They were still there, in the streets, in the buildings, and all frozen in the actions and expressions they had been performing when the power had swept over the planet. An attempt had once been made to steal those same accursed crystals from the Agis Temple Sage had sealed them inside, in the hope that using them again would undo the effects, but the Humans had intervened and destroyed them first.

Now, weeks after that showdown in the Pyramid, Kyburi was still struck as she drove by the frozen Reds, seeing their surprised faces still petrified after all this time. While most beings thought that Reds could not feel pity, sadness, or frustration, the driver of the Venikus felt all three as she looked into the motionless eyes of her people – indeed, in the known Multiverse, the Red Sentients had the strongest emotions, though they were not completely governed by them, as the Vandals were.

Their destination inside the city was a bunker, where the Red Sentient 5 had made their headquarters while rallying their troops. Krytus had reclaimed it after being released from the Krypt Zone, and after awakening his teammates from forced slumber in the Vault, Arctic, War, and Canyon Battlezones, they had been making an effort to get all the machinery up and running again.

At the energy gates that protected it from attack, Kytren activated his identity module again, his companion doing the same. In reply, a gap opened to allow the two vehicles to drive in, as well as triggering the garage doors to open. Revving up, they slid inside, shutting down their systems and stepping out of their vehicles when they entered the main command center, willing them away so they wouldn't take up needed space.

Unlike the smooth angles of Blue Sentient architecture, the bunker of the Red Sentient 5 had a blocky and utilitarian design, meant for work and not comfort. The energy of many superweapons stored inside had been drained away to power their scanners and computers, to say nothing of the Power Orbs. It was within those giant energy chargers that the remaining members of the Red Sentient 5 were waiting for their fellows to return.

As the pair advanced to the plinth where the Power Orbs hovered – Kyburi with the clicking of stiletto heels, Kytren with the quick motions of a jungle cat – the three Reds deactivated their Orbs and floated back to the ground, landing and moving to greet their fellows. Barrel-chested Krytus, his face as curiously elfin as usual, was at the front of the V-formation, flanked by the shorter, stockier Kyrosys and the giant heavy-weight demon Krylox, who towered over his peers. Both of the lesser Reds gained respect from enemies and allies alike – Kyrosys through his fire-based weapons and Krylox through his powerful arms – but anyone would know that Krytus was the one who held the real power, commanding his warriors without hesitation through a thousand battles.

"Did you find it?" the leader of the Red Sentients asked, sparing no time for meaningless pleasantries.

Kyburi tossed the faceplate at him at superspeed; with reflexes that defied Human perception, the male caught it between his thumb and index fingers. "Our scanners say that it's the thing we were looking for, but it's not radiating hadron energy. I don't even know what civilization this might be from, but its' not Sentient."

A derisive snort escaped Kyrosys' throat – he and Kyburi had never gotten along, especially since she was Krytus' favorite and second-in-command – but their leader paid no attention to the surfacing of the old feud. His narrow eyes had focused on the design of the thing in his hands, and to his own systems, he was forced to admit he was as stumped as Kyburi.

Turning around, he placed the faceplate into a full-scanner that had been reactivated by their return. At first, it did not start work, which caused Krytus to scowl and thump it a few times, after which it sputtered to life. Rays of light, emitted by the mini-scanners that made up the whole, ran over the thing, sliding the gathered information into the databases. At will, Krylox – the Tech Support Officer – called up screens to access this new information, cross-referencing it with the great stores of knowledge that the Sentient civilizations had gathered before their obliteration.

"Origin is unknown," he reported to the group. "The scans indicate that it might come from another world altogether, outside of the Sentient-discovered worlds, but it would also indicate that their technology would be just as advanced as our own. I can't imagine how it ended up in Modulon 5."

"Of course you couldn't, Krylox," Kyburi sighed, utilizing her casual cruelty on another member of the RS5. While Krylox was undoubtedly smarter than a Human (and _especially_ a Vandal), by Sentient standards he was an ignorant buffoon. "The Blues might have recovered that before their invasion, or the Vandals."

Krylox knew how he was regarded, but he had dealt with it for all his life and so had gotten used to it – in any case, he was good enough for his old friend Krytus to give him this position. Ignoring Kyburi's cynicism, he kept going. "Indications suggest that it needs to be worn to activate its powers."

"Naturally," Kyburi mocked. This time Krytus sent her a warning glare before asking, "And what else can be told about this thing?"

The giant chose his words carefully. "From the analysis of its energy stores, it seems to have only one purpose, but it is a strong one – the power to open inter-dimensional portals."

Instantly the boredom of the Red Sentients vanished in a flash, with Kyburi no longer interested in sneering at him. Portals had an especially strong hold on their minds, as they needed desperately to capture Sage – as the one who had frozen the rest of their kind, she alone had the power to awaken them. Their problem was the fact none of them had a clue what the coordinates of Earth were, and they needed those to get there and find her.

"The theory of telepathic portal-generation," Kyrosys said, brain spinning with ideas. "Perhaps it could be done with that thing?"

"Yes …" Krytus said softly. "My link to my sister could provide us with a location to open the doorways." His eyes locked on the mask, and reverently he lifted it up. "We just need to access this power."

For the next ten or so minutes there was a great deal of hilarity, excitement, and frustration in that room, as the Reds took turns putting on the pale grey faceplate and straining to turn it on with sheer willpower. As their heads were all differently-shaped and their bodies all red-and-black, they looked rather odd with it on – and in a few cases, scarier than usual.

Finally, they had to concede defeat on that direct front, setting it down and allowing all concerned to glare at it in irritation. Fortunately, both Kyrosys and Krylox had been cooking up their own Plan Bs ever since they had tried and failed to activate it. The two had been colleges before they had become Krytus' teammates, so they naturally worked together when it came to building.

"We could alter one of the machines here to amplify the telepathic bond," the Artillery Officer suggested, projecting a hologram of the one in question, and then modifying it to show what he meant. "By draining generators of their hadron energy, we could use it to create a synthetic power orb, which could be used to meld the psychic energies with the power of the artifact."

"How long would it take for the machine to be built?" While Krytus was outwardly calm and collected, there was an undisguised excitement in his voice at what this artifact could offer them, even after failing to activate it through willpower – a hope that none of them dared to hope for; a direct shot at Sage and her band on their own territory. If harnessed correctly, they could change the balance of power in the Multiverse in less than five minutes.

The pair of techies quickly preformed a few calculations, then Krylox spoke again. "The building could be completed in less than ten hours, since we already have the baseline here. The machine, however, would require an immense amount of energy to create the portal, without a Key to generate it. The collection would take much longer – all together, we could have it all ready to fire in twenty-four hours, if not sooner."

_Twenty-four hours! _For beings less patient than them, it would be written off as a ridiculous preposition. However, the twin Sentient races were able to lay in quiet hibernation for eons – even Kyburi's short breaking point, when presented with something as vitally important as this, could be stretched to twice its usual length. They all knew that.

"Kyburi, Krylox," Krytus quickly ordered, "the two of you will be in charge of draining what remains of the generators in the neighboring cities. Go to the Sark world if you need to. Kyrosys, Kytren, and I will gather the materials needed to create this and begin work in the canyons with the Red Sark."

That was all they needed to hear – the warlike Sentients had found an outlet for their intensity and were eager to get started. The Venikus and Vylirex were formed again, only to be joined by Krylox's monstrous tank Synataur, Krytus' sleek, bladed Synfurious, and Kyrosys' well-armed Synthrax. Racing back out into the frozen city, they quickly parted ways, seeking the objectives of their own missions.

Krytus alone had any idea of how time flowed on Earth, thanks to his exposure to his sister's mind during their battles. Sentient time – especially on the Red planet – moved faster than time on Earth, since the planet revolved around their sun faster than Earth did around its' own. Even going by the 24-hour estimation, it meant they could potentially be storming Sage's sanctuary in the early hours of sunlight. As diurnal creatures, the Humans would barely be awake at that time, and unable to give much of a fight to the Sentients, who only required energy to maintain their systems.

_This will be an easy victory,_ he thought, and he chuckled cruelly.

**XxX**

**Author's Note: **Now that the initial threat has been established in the BF5-verse, I'll be introducing the Bionicle crew (or some of them, anyway) in the next chapter. All of the ones mentioned will be OC's, and readers of my Heroes and Halfings saga will probably semi-familiar with them. =D (If the plothole of Sage getting two more incendium chips to power Splitwire and Gearslammer seems a tad far-fetched, you have only me to blame.)

Thanks for reading!

-Inferna


	3. SpiritSend

Spirit-Send

**Location: Rohaya, Matoran Universe**

In the dead of night, two figures silently made their way into the moonlit room – one carrying a knife; the other a large, cloth-swaddled object. The starlight made the steel blade glow silver as the object – easily a bio long and very heavy – was set down on a wooden table and unwrapped. As the knife rose upward for the final blow, it rocked back and forth, trembling –

The blade slashed down, and there was a spurt of red liquid just as the lights were turned on.

"Cute," the newcomer said with little humor in their voice, looking at the two people in the kitchen. Both of them – a male and a female – grinned sheepishly at the blue-armored female over the watermelon they had cut in half, resting meekly on the large cutting board. All three of them were Toa, biomechanical warriors better known for their elemental powers and Kanohi masks than for kitchen raids, but as they were hardly perfect, they were more than capable of mischief when they wanted to be.

"Okay, so we couldn't resist being dramatic," admitted Toa of Lightning Alvis, the one holding the knife. Returning her attention to the green-skinned fruit and cutting it into smaller pieces, she added, "We'll share if you don't tell on us, Eos."

The co-deputy of the Toa Rohaya struggled to resist temptation and order Alvis and Paytah back to bed, but she finally succumbed. Walking over to the cutting board, she picked up a slice and bit into it, making appreciative noises as she swallowed. "Pity the others aren't here to enjoy this."

"Who's to say we aren't?" asked a new voice, and the trio whirled to see Hesprides, Amaya, Crevan, and Atlas standing outside the entrance to the kitchen, unmasked want on their faces as they eyed the fruit they were snacking on. Unable to deny their friends now that they had bitten down into the red flesh, they let them into the circle.

The seven of them were part of a team of twenty Toa based on the island Rohaya, part of an alliance with the nearby metropolis of Shi-Nui. Their tasks were simple: regulate the sea traffic around the busy port city, raid and seize ships of the Dark Hunters and Brotherhood of Makuta that often passed by, and kick some _serious_ bad guy butt. Only a few of the group were natives to this region of the universe, but all of them brought their own set of skills, their unique personalities, and their strange quirks to the party, turning the crew into a top-tier team of warriors.

_Hard to believe, _Eos thought as she looked at her siblings-in-arms, sprawled lazily around the kitchen, _that we were all brought together by the same, powerful, near-omniscient being._

It was true, though. After a double shipwreck that had killed their crewmates, Eos, Ares, Atlas, and Kronus had been swept to shore by the strange Being that had been sealed under the Krycai volcano, who wished them to be its own warrior band. Kronus had become the leader (a choice that had alienated her and Ares at first, but both had accepted it over time, especially after he had named them his deputy leaders), and as years went by, the Brotherhood's Toa refugees had begun to be drawn to the island as well. Some just stayed for a while, then left, but a few took the oath that bound them to the earth, and over the years they had grown to their present number. From exuberant Alvis to moody Stara, from motherly Althea to mischievous Paytah, they had all taken the pledge and become soldiers for Rohaya's cause.

"How's Kronus doing? Has he come back yet?"

Hesprides' question brought the Water Toa back to reality. She shook her head, golden eyes hooded behind her Mask of Water Breathing. "Still in the Razor's Edge, or somewhere between here and there. You know how you can get sucked in by Rohaya's presence – it feels like a few minutes, but it turns out to be hours."

Crevan nodded ascent, the Ice Toa's Akaku hiding his face. "It's true, then – that Sirien's vision is about to come to pass?"

Eos frowned at the mention of the Toa of Psionics, who alone wore the Mask of Clairvoyance. Her power over her own mind made it possible for her to control her Kanohi power and conjure up visions of the future several months in advance, but not all of her predictions came true, as it was with all prophets. It was generally a bad idea to ignore what she saw, though.

"I don't know, but Kronus definitely found it necessary to talk to Rohaya," she said, choosing her words with care as she looked around at the others, who watched her intently. "If we're really expecting visitors, we need to be prepared to hold potentials prisoners or allies. That's why we should get back to sleep," she said, letting her authority creep back into her voice. "We need to finish setting up the beacons for Sirien to interface in, and finish prepping the extra rooms and storage chambers."

By now, the watermelon had been completely demolished, leaving nothing but hard rind and juice stains. Their midnight snack complete, the other Toa didn't raise a complaint, instead drifting back to their rooms and leaving the deputy behind in the suddenly-dark room as the lights were switched off.

Turning to face the window, she looked out through the thick glass at the Twin Moons. "Hurry back, Kronus," she murmured. "Hurry back so we may face the future."

**XxX**

**Location: Handler's Corner, Earth**

The smell of bacon, hash browns, maple syrup, and orange juice filled the air of the Hub, as the seven Human members fueled up for a Saturday morning that they hoped would just be filled with fun and not some knowledge that Krytus had come up with another way to locate Sage. The Blue Sentient herself was still in the garage area, wrapping up her work on the project she had begun yesterday – as an energy-based life-form, she didn't require the same sustenance as her friends.

"Hey, Vert," Spinner called through a mouthful of bacon and scrambled eggs, "wanna race after breakfast? Buster versus Saber?"

Tezz looked prepared to comment on the Cortezes' chances of winning over his cup of coffee – he was the only member who drank it caffeinated, though it was a habit he had only recently cultivated – but when Vert shook his head, the Russian kept his mouth shut and returned to his food. "Maybe not directly after breakfast, Spin – I promised Sage I'd help her test her new device when she finished it."

"It's not going to explode, right?" Stanford asked from his position at the frying pan, recalling to an instance where Sage's weapon-building attempts had backfired, with near-catastrophic results.

"Unless neural enhancers liquidize the wearer's brain, I don't think it'll kill me."

"Lovely mental image," Agura muttered, wrinkling her nose and deciding to try and erase the picture with another bite of her spinach omelet and hash browns.

As if on cue, the Blue Sentient herself walked inside the kitchen/dining room, completed visor in hand. "Good morning, Battle Force 5," she said in her usual greeting. "Vert, I have completed the enhancer. Whenever you are prepared, we may run a test with it."

Since he'd been finished already, Vert set his dishes into the sink for washing later and walked over to join Sage. Working quickly, like she was feeling a pressing need to try her new creation _now_, Sage matched the frequency of the headset with Vert's own neural waves, allowing him to see what she saw in her own visions. "Are you ready?" she asked, stepping back. In her side-vision, she noticed the other members watching with deep curiosity, but chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, let's do it!"

Closing her eyes, the Blue Sentient focused on the part of her that was also part of her murderous brother, digging deep to open up a way into his head – and when she opened her eyes, Sage realized that she had done it again.

_Through the psychic link both now had access to, Sage and Vert realized that the eyes they were looking through were that of Krytus, standing on the edge of some canyon on the Red Sentient planet, the bands of sandstone colored like flame. If the Sentient realized he had intruders in his mind, he made no attempt to shut them out._

_Turning away from the horizon, he looked down into the canyon itself. Two members of his Red Sentient Force – from this distance, it looked like Kytren and Kyrosys, assisted by Red Zurk – were milling around a metal scaffolding that was easily as big as the Buster, if not bigger. The structure looked like it was housing an artificial Power Orb, connected to a magnifying unit that faced the opposite side of the canyon. Something metallic hovered inside the orb, but with a nest of pipes pouring hadron energy inside, it was difficult for Vert to tell just what it was._

_The energy itself was coming from five tanks, each the size, shape, and color of black oil drums. Spindly Kytren was overseeing the work done by the Zurk, while Kyrosys monitored the machine itself, and when a pair of twin roars came from behind and caused Krytus to turn, it became clear where the other two had been._

_The Synataur and Venikus halted before him, another power tank attached to the front of Krylox's vehicle. Both transports vanished, energy reclaimed by their generators, the drum falling to the earth with a thud. Without a word, the bigger Sentient gathered the weight onto his shoulders and began bounding down a series of ledges, using them as a staircase down to the canyon floor._

"_That's the last one," Kyburi reported. "Hopefully we won't find out we need more energy to pull this off; we already drained most of the generators in Ahomga and Dolos to get all these."_

_They looked down at their comrades, where Krylox had fit the last power tank into place in a cradle where the other five were already. On the triangular screens they could call up at will, Kyrosys was calculating it all, finally turning to pass on the message._

"_This is it!" his heavily-synthesized voice cried, echoing eerily around the rocks walls. "T-minus seven minutes until we are primed and ready to fire!"_

"_For once the flamebrain built something useful," Kyburi muttered._

_Krytus ignored the criticism levied against his Artillery Officer, instead turning towards her to give a set of commands. "Get down there and prepare for the opening. You and Kytren will be the first wave to soften their defenses."_

"_Done," she said without hesitation. "We've almost made it … Sage will fall soon; there will be no way she can hide from us after this."_

_Grinning, both Red Sentients leapt down the same ledges to join their companions. And while they did not speak further, the pair of spies in Krytus' head saw what he was expecting to see in a short amount of time: the machine, powered by him in some way, ripping open a spiraling portal; Kyburi, Kytren, and Kyrosys flying through to the destination beyond; the BF5 taken off-guard on the other side …_

_And all five of them in a circle around a kneeling figure, reaching clawed hands out to extinguish the life of the one they both recognized as Sage. _

Gasping in horror, Vert tore off the visor, letting it scatter across the floor and break his connection to Krytus. Released from the vision's power, he staggered to his knees, hearing the concerned babble of his friends, but his mind couldn't understand what they were saying. Anything that Krytus and his team built was a potential danger to them; thanks to Sage's work they had a head's up, but if Kyrosys was correct, there was little time to act.

"Sage, what was that thing?" he heard himself asking. The Blue Sentient had reacted to the vision about the same way he had, but had recovered faster than he had – physically, in any case. Her voice was shaken (not stirred), and her tone had become grim.

"That machine was built off of Red Sentient devices, which Krytus could use to boost his psychic abilities – bad enough on its own, but the more pressing matter was the thing that was built into it. From what I gleaned from my twin's mind, it is an artifact recovered by his team, which seems to have the power to open portals throughout the Multiverse – and possibly beyond."

"Sort of like a Battlekey, then?" Sherman questioned, setting down his organic wheat-grass drink on the table.

"Worse. Both are powerful on their own, but put together the way they are, Krytus could turn my own telepathic bond against me in a way none of us anticipated. Using it, he could open a portal directly to my location."

A moment of shocked silence followed. Sage had always been in danger from the powers-that-be in the Multiverse, thanks to the fact they were sure she was the last living Blue Sentient and a literal powerhouse of knowledge. Her life had become even more precious to them after it became clear that Krytus and his group were determined to kill Sage, but they had clung to the hope, the seemingly-inalienable truth that so long the Reds could not gain the coordinates to Earth, or follow them through a portal there, Sage would be safe.

As it turned out, that wasn't the case. Yet they still hoped desperately that the rule could remain.

"How could Krytus get a portal opened on Earth if he doesn't have the coordinates? It's preposterous!" Stanford said, trying to use his bravado to hide his sudden fear.

"Psychic bonds do not require coordinates to find each other," Tezz said in his thick accent, still looking and sounding calm despite the fact he was worried too. "In theory, a fully-engaged pair of telepathically-linked Sentients could generate a vague sense of where the other is, and use a device like a Battlekey to open portals there. No one has ever tried it until now, though."

"Tezz is correct," Sage replied. "If I engage Krytus while the machine is operational, he will use it to try and make it to Earth – it does not matter to him if the likelihood of failure is as high as it is."

"We gotta destroy that machine, then!" Zoom, as usual, was ready for action, abandoning his half-finished plate of breakfast items and grabbing his helmet.

"Right, but we have to be sure we're prepared for failure," Vert said. Looking at AJ and Tezz, he addressed them. "You two stay here on Earth with Sage. Load up the Battlekeys, the fusion pod generator, the supplies, everything into the Mobi. Once you do, head into the Multiverse; we'll try to link up with you there."

There was no time for debate; they all knew that. Sage summoned a Battlekey from the vault and began reprogramming it to bring Vert and the others he was taking through the Clockwork Battlezone, then to the Red Planet – she had gotten a sense for where Krytus was building and programmed those coordinates into it. Around her, the Humans grabbed their incendium chips and piled into their vehicles, even as the ones staying behind ran into the back rooms to start packing.

Spinner made as if to grab one of the binary fusion pods, but Vert shook his head. The things were unstable enough as they were – he didn't want to risk bringing it close to a power source like the generator. Leaving the store, the older Cortez twin climbed into the top hatch of the Buster, slamming it shut as the Key was affixed to the front the Saber and their turntables moved to launch them under the surface of the salt flats.

"Sage, how much time do we have before Krytus can fire?" Agura demanded to know as they were fired. Vert could answer that as well, but the Blue Sentient had a sense of time that was accurate within a millisecond.

"When the vision was live, the countdown was at seven minutes; as of now, we have just over five. However, time on the Red planet flows faster than it does on Earth. We only have three minutes before the machine is operable."

They flew up, five cars breaching the salt flats like metallic dolphins – Saber, Tangler, Buster, Chopper, and Reverb. Not wanting an encounter with the grouchy Sheriff Johnston at this time, they peeled away from the road and plunged into the rockier areas. Sage's words had set a mental clock in their heads –one they were determined to beat.

**XxX**

**Location: Canyonlands, Red Sentient Planet**

"Systems online," Kyrosys announced as he stepped away from the screens, letting Krylox take control of the thing. "All operations functioning at 100%. We may fire when ready."

Turning away, the Artillery Officer walked away as Krytus slipped inside the synthetic power orb – while crude, it would serve the required purpose, which was to amplify the strength of his telepathic bond. Cradled in the center was the device that Kyburi and Kytren had recovered, its power accessed the only way they could.

The aforementioned Red Sentients were waiting on the edges, seated in their Venikus and Vylirex near where the portal was supposed to open. Their plan relied on speed and surprise – it was highly unlikely that Battle Force 5 would be able to react to a direct invasion to their base instantaneously, especially when they thought they didn't have Earth's coordinates. (Which they still didn't, but they'd wrest that from Sage before they destroyed her.) Kyrosys would follow them after they had softened up the defenses, and they would be more than capable of capturing Krytus' twin.

Summoning his vehicle, the Red Sentient moved into position, smirking as he anticipated the change of power that was to come.

**XxX**

**Location: Clockwork Battlezone, Multiverse**

The portal flew open and expelled the BF5, but none of them paused. Keeping their pedals firmly to the metal, they flew across the shifting gears, hearts racing in sympathy of the oppressive feel of their time limit.

This was a mission they could not afford to fail. There was no second chance – it was do-or-die time.

_Come on, come on …_

**XxX**

**Location: Handler's Corner, Earth**

"Last Battlekey's loaded up!"

"Binary fusion pod generator successfully in place."

"Emergency supplies stored."

The Hub was a beehive of activity, despite the fact there were only three beings in there now. An intensity had fired their motions as they moved the things they needed into the Mobius Command Center, in the name of being prepared if their companions failed. None of them knew just where or how the portal Krytus would generate – it might vector on Sage's exact location, or it might pop directly into the Hub – but they were all hoping that it would be the second option, as it would give them a chance to flee Earth and enter the Multiverse, joining any of their companions that had survived their attack on the Red Planet.

"That oughta be everything," the light blonde boy said, running down the ramp of the Mobi to the Hub floor. "Everything except Gearslammer and Splitwire, anyway."

Sage was hovering in the center, sending her final set of commands to the intelligence that helped her keep the Hub running smoothly. It was mostly evacuation stuff – opening the lift that the Mobi used to access the salt flats, sending the place into lockdown until the activation of certain codes, and all the rest. Tezz left the Mobi as well, from where he had been using his electromagnetic gauntlet to move metal crates into the storage bay, and both were about to climb into their custom-build cars and load them up too when the lights flashed, Sage's body flickered and spluttered, and the Blue Sentient collapsed to her knees to the floor, head cradled in her hands.

Abruptly forgetting about the cars, they ran back to their friend; while they didn't know the exact reasons why she had fallen, they could guess why. If Krytus' machine worked on the fact they could meld their minds and fight on a psychic battlefield, this had to mean that their time was slipping away.

Neither bothered to talk; they simply acted. Tezz helped maneuver Sage's prone body into AJ's arms, even as the Splitwire's doors flew open to wait for driver and passenger. They carried her like she was made of fragile-spun glass, but despite the fact she was Vert's height the Sentient was astonishingly light, only having the estimated weight of a pair of cell phones.

AJ wasn't as good at math as Sherman or Tezz, but as he carried their alien friend into the passenger seat of the Splitwire and helped the Russian secure her seatbelt, he could tell this was coming too close for his taste. He, Vert, and Zoom all loved extreme sports, but he felt they would both agree with him when he wished that the situation wouldn't be as dire.

**XxX**

**Location: Canyonlands, Red Sentient Planet**

To Krytus, trying to lock down on his twin sister's mind was like trying to catch and hold water in cupped hands, or seize hold of a polished marble covered in Verginch slime. When they both had been very young, they had shared their thoughts freely, but time had made them withdraw from each other in suspicion, until their link had become one of their many weapons against each other.

Sage had always been the slipperier of the pair, hard to catch and even harder to defeat in mind-to-mind combat. Without the aid of Sentient artifacts to increase his fortitude, he couldn't initiate a face-off – he had to let her dictate the terms, and these days she did her best to shield her mind.

But this machine he and his companions had built would suit the same purpose as Sentient obelisks – he would be able to challenge his sister head-on, and then go one step further and enter the place she thought she was safe: her sanctuary on Earth.

His mind reached out past his physical shape, seeking out the bright beacon of his twin's mind. It was strange – she was twisting away harder than usual, trying to avoid his touch. Normally, she would engage him as quickly as she could, defeating him just as quickly and leaving them both too drained to try again for some time.

Finally, his tendrils reached out, snared one of hers. He smiled – while it wasn't a full connection, it was a start.

"I have you now, sister," he whispered.

**XxX**

**Location: Handler's Corner, Earth**

Sage stirred as she was strapped into the Splitwire, but it wasn't a reassuring gesture to her companions as they loaded up their vehicles and maneuvered her to the bridge of the Mobi. In her mind, she could feel Krytus trying to gain a foothold into her head. This was one confrontation she could not afford to be tangled up in – if they engaged, he could have a shot with that machine he had built. Using all the tricks she had learned from her mentor, Sol, she shoved back, trying to make him loose his grip on her head –

All in vain, as he snatched hold and began to initiate a new confrontation.

"_No," _she whispered, both in her mind and with her mouth, as his image materialized in her brain.

**XxX**

**Location: Canyonlands, Red Sentient Planet**

So she had known about his plan after all; he could sense that right away. No matter – he had a firm hold in her head, and Krytus gestured to Krylox to initiate the countdown. With the smile of a thug ready for violence, the Red triggered the mechanisms and allowed the power to flow. Inside the synthetic power orb, the artifact glowed red, and an orb began to gather shape on the launcher.

"Initiating portal opening," he reported, magnifying his voice so everyone would hear. Near the front, Kyburi, Kytren, and Kyrosys revved their engines; both of those that would be staying behind were a little disappointed that they wouldn't be able to join in the gloriously destructive raid, but they needed to keep the portal open for their comrades.

"Ready in five, four, three …"

**XxX**

**Location: Clockwork Battlezone, Multiverse**

The vector point was straight ahead, but the wheels of all concerned were loudly informing them that they would need new tires soon enough. Ignoring the complaints as they pushed their cars to the absolute limit, Battle Force 5 fell into their Flying Wedge position, all weapons at ready. The Saber made up the point, and with its blades extended, Vert prepared the Battlekey to fire and open the portal to the Red Sentient Planet.

Energy surged as the hadron beam removed the Key from the hood of the Saber, and he fired it forward, opening it to the opposite end of their canyon …

**XxX**

**Location: Canyonlands, Red Sentient Planet**

… while on the Red homeworld, Krylox's countdown finished, and the red energy surged directly where the portal was opening.

Ironically, it was the Red Zurk positioned on the edges of the cliffs that had the best view of what transpired. As the blue portal opened, the red power beam slammed directly into it, mixing red Antimatter with the blue Matter that made up the Multiverse's weave. Neither set of intelligent beings knew what happened exactly afterwards, but the Sark observed, and passively recorded it so it might be studied later on.

The portal turned black, twisting and turning like it wasn't sure if it should go clockwise or the reverse direction, looking for the guidance it desperately needed. The BF5 flew through and engaged the RS5, but the epic battle and rescue that they were hoping for did not come.

Shaking off its confusion, the portal began spinning clockwise, even as it moved forward. Its gravitational pull began sucking the ten beings in, along with the machine that had caused all of this, with Krytus still trapped inside the inner workings. Even as the vehicles tried to grip the loose earth, the doorway widened, and they were dragged away to parts unknown, a psychic surge of energy being the only thing to escape it as it sealed without trace.

**XxX**

**Location: Handler's Corner, Earth**

Sage had been moved into her Power Orb inside the bridge and the two boys that were with her were powering up the Mobi as the lights outside abruptly dimmed. Both looked worriedly at each other – this was far too much weirdness for a Saturday morning – then began running scans on the vehicle, Sage, and the Hub as they tried to decipher the meaning of the power change.

"The Mobius Command Center is clear, and so is Sage," Tezz reported as he finished his. "The Hub is normal save for the lockdown measures – I cannot understand why this anomaly exists."

"Who cares?" AJ retorted, revving up the giant vehicle's engine. "I don't like how this is going – the sooner we're in the Battlezones, the better."

Before the Russian could reply, a loud, ominous creaking sound emerged from outside, like a magnetic force was trying to pull the convoy vehicle up off the floor of its private wing and onto the roof. AJ didn't bother with asking Tezz if he was responsible – even that electromagnetic gauntlet his friend wore had its limits, and moving something like the Mobi was completely out of its league – he just secured his seatbelt, canceled the lift's opening, and waited for the creaking to go away.

That didn't happen. With a start, he realized that the Mobi was leaving the ground, and was beginning to fly upward. Tezz was already trying to use his gauntlet to haul them back to earth, but when AJ got a look at what the environmental scans said about the situation, a saying he'd heard on the Discovery Channel ran through his head.

_Gravity, man: it's not just a good idea, it's the law!_

On the external feed, the two Humans watched as a miniature black portal that had opened directly over the Mobius Command Center began to suck them in. They were afraid for themselves, afraid for Sage, but when they fell through, unconsciousness obliterated their thoughts.

**XxX**


	4. We're Not On Earth Anymore

We're Not on Earth Anymore

**Location: Rohaya, Matoran Universe**

"Come on, Stara! Wake up!"

A muffled groan sounded from under the covers of the bunk, indicating that the bed's occupant had just been unceremoniously roused from blissful slumber – or was doing a really good imitation of that. It did nothing to keep Toa Rohaya of Lightning Alvis from shaking them, cheerfully oblivious to the fact the Twin Suns had just come over the horizon.

"Go 'way, Alvis," a female voice slurred from under the cocoon of blankets. "I dun wanna get up today."

"Up time!" she enthused, grabbing a pillow from Hesprides' bed (all the others that slept in the room were already awake) and using it to smack Stara in the general area of her face.

"Alvis," the taller Lightning Toa growled, pulling the covers down and abandoning all pretenses that she had been sleeping, "I am not getting up today."

"Too bad; we say you are. Now up and at 'em!"

Alvis punctuated her sentence by tossing the pillow aside and yanking the covers off the reluctant Toa beneath them. Scowling, grey and gold Stara hauled them back over her head, only to have her way-too-cheerful friend remove them. "Come on, Stara – Egan's not gonna wait forever for you!"

Stara ripped her sheets out of Alvis' hands and over her head. One emerald eye glared out at the other Toa as she snapped, "Alvis, for the last time, I am not going along with this! Just because Egan and I kissed a few times –"

"More than a few times, I'd say."

"Whatever! The point remains: I am not getting out of bed so you can haul me off to Shi-Nui and do this thing –"

"What makes you think we're going to Shi-Nui today, Stara?"

Stara abruptly stopped her ranting, apprehensively lowering the covers to get a better look at her friend's grinning face. Alvis, unlike her, seemed perfectly awake even at this un-Mata-Nui-like hour, making the Toa of Lightning wonder what magical substance enabled her to be so bright, chipper, and _logical _at all times.

"What are you trying to say?" the female asked suspiciously, wondering if this was some sort of trick.

"Kronus got back from the Razor's Edge at in the middle of the night. According to him, the events in Sirien's vision are about to start – sometime this week, I think – and we need to be ready for whatever that entails. Me, you, and Egan have been assigned to finish setting up the psionic beacons around the island, so there's no trip to Shi-Nui today."

Satisfied by this work-related explanation, Stara kicked off her covers and swung her long legs over the edge of her bunk bed, grabbing her boots and beginning to put them on. Behind her Kanohi Ceray, she hid her smile – she liked Egan, and could tolerate Alvis even at her most hyper, but she would rather muck out Ussal crab stalls than have those two plus Paytah try to give her love life a push in the "right" direction.

Before she could finish hauling on the other boot, a shriek – both in their minds and in their ears – rang out further inside their fortress. Both exchanged startled glances, and then ran out of the bedroom, Stara hobbling a bit because of her new leg-length disparity: as she had dashed out before finishing, her left foot kept twisting out of it boot. The taller Lightning Toa tried using her Mask of Enhancement to increase her speed, but it didn't work very well.

"That was Sirien," Stara called, trying to catch up to the smaller Toa. "Think it might be another vision?"

"Who cares? She needs help!"

All the while, the screams had grown louder as they approached the great hall, forcing the pair to yell to be heard. When they made it into the great hall, they found that they had not been alone in hearing Sirien. Egan, Cargan, Atlas, and several other Toa Rohaya had descended upon the area, with Kronus – who looked like he hadn't slept a wink the night prior – and Baird supporting the Toa of Psionics in their arms. Her blue-gold body was reflecting both the natural light streaming through the many windows and the gleam of her Mask of Clairvoyance as it shone.

"What's going on?" yelled Stara, leaning against the wall so she could finish buckling her boots. "Another vision?"

"Looks that way," Atlas replied in kind. "First time she started screaming, though."

As if his words had been a prearranged signal, Sirien's arched body abruptly sagged down, letting the two male Toa support her weight as they carried her to a chair and set her into it. Ears ringing from the newfound silence, the gathered Toa Rohaya converged on her, with Althea and Cartriona – the latest arrivals in the room – began hovering over the Toa of Psionics, checking her over.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Sirien assured, looking slightly dazed and embarrassed. "I got hit with a vision and a psychic barrage at the same time – it took me by surprise."

Stara looked sympathetically at her friend, her peripheral vision catching Egan's gaze. Both Alvis and Sirien, together with Amaya, Catriona, Althea, and Hesprides, had been the prisoners and lab rats of Makuta Hecate before joining the Toa Rohaya, and all had suffered some sort of change to their biology from her tinkering. Althea, Catriona, and Hesprides had had their native elements stripped away and replaced with a Rahkshi power, while Alvis had gained a pair of long, thin, metallic appendages that extended out of the back of her head. Sirien's damage wasn't as severe, but just as demeaning: she could no longer remove her Mask of Clairvoyance from her face. While she could wear and utilize other masks, her basic one would never change.

"It's perfectly fine, Sirien," Baird said soothingly (as he was a Toa of Sonics, he was capable of always sounding calm). "What did you hear? What did you see?"

"And what was so important that you had to scare me out of bed?" grumbled Paytah as he staggered out of the hallway, looking like a Muaka tiger that had been dunked in cold water. Despite the fact he wore the Mask of Speed, he was somehow the last Toa Rohaya to join the impromptu meeting.

"I saw … things. I don't know how to describe them, they were so _alien_ … they were as tall as we are, maybe a little shorter. Their bodies were made of crystal, colored either scarlet or cerulean. There were five scarlets, one cerulean, and I got the impression that the blue one was good and the reds were evil.

"Then … I saw eight other creatures, smaller than us but taller than Matoran, and wearing the colors of the elements. All fourteen of them were flanked by machines, transports I have never seen before … and then they vanished."

"A repeat of what you saw a few days ago?" Ares, the Toa of Magnetism, inquired.

"Yes … only much more intense. And at the same time, I heard voices … _their _voices. They were garbled together, only three female voices amongst them, but I knew they were the people that were in my visions." Sirien's voice was growing stronger, her pauses shorter, but her bewildered expression was fading much more slowly.

"Six were here, or at least close by. Three were further north, and five came as if from far away, into the southern lands. And then they ended."

A very pregnant pause followed.

"Then if what you heard is true," Eos said finally, "the vision has come to pass, and we have intruders on our island."

The Toa of Psionics cocked her head to the side, shaking off the support as she got back to her feet. "Yes – I can hear them. Six are here, but I'm not sure where the others are. All of them are unconscious and less than a kio from the fortress, near the hot springs. They might be like that for a bit, but not for long."

Kronus quickly asserted his authority as the team leader, now that the crucial details had been passed along. "Sirien, continue listening to their minds; alert us if you can hear more. Paytah, Alvis, Stara, Ares – we need the rest of those beacons up _now_."

"What, no breakfast?" Paytah protested. Ignoring the Toa of Fire, the Gravity Toa kept on going. "Mastu, Baird, Amaya, Washi – you four will keep watch over them. Do not reveal your presence; keep hidden and relay your information back through Sirien. Everyone else – on standby."

**XxX**

**Location: Metru Nui, Matoran Universe**

A throbbing headache greeted Tezz Volitov as he slowly regained consciousness. As his eyes began to report images back to his brain, the Russian genius noticed that he was still strapped in his chair in the Mobius Command Center; AJ was similarly tied down. Twisting around slowly, as to not aggravate his migraine, the sallow-skinned teen saw that Sage was in her Power Orb, body sprawled out and faintly glowing – she was absorbing energy from the convoy vehicle's systems, which he took as a positive sign that she had not crashed forever.

Unbuckling the harness that held him, Tezz stood and apprehensively stretched his stiffened muscles. To his eyes, nothing in the Mobi's bridge was damaged, and from the view out the windshield, he deduced that they were out of the Hub and in the desert that surrounded Handler's Corner. How that had happened, he wasn't sure, but perhaps some directive of Sage had made the Mobi drive itself out of the Hub.

Memory returned with a jolt of pure adrenaline.

Diving back into his seat, the Russian teen brought the defensive systems online, and to his horror, he found that they were not in cloak. He also had no idea how long they had been sitting out in the open, but they had to get to a place where they could hide, both from civilians and Krytus –

Krytus.

No matter how long they had been unconscious, surely Sage's twin might have been able to use the machine and open the portal to Earth, if Vert and the rest of the BF5 had not been able to thwart him. Since the lift took two minutes to reach the surface – and when he finally checked his watch, Tezz realized that several hours had gone by since Sage's vision – surely the mission to destroy Krytus' machine had been successful.

Tezz felt his heartbeat calm slightly, clearing his mind and allowing him to think logically.

All right. Clearly they had been sitting out in the Arizona sun for some time now, and by some miracle they were not surrounded by Red Sentient vehicles or confused civilians. Engaging the cloaking mode, the genius thought hard. If Vert and the others were not back, the first order of business was to wake the others, decide on a plan of action, and then utilize it.

Once again rising up out of his chair, the driver of the Splitwire shook AJ, an awkward gesture for him. His years on the Red Sentient moon had made him divorced from many of the things that were commonplace for his companions. He had had no friends in his forced exile to watch his back or wake him when danger was afoot, and he had been unable to do the same in return. While confident in many things, in other areas he was like a young child, finding it difficult to unbend and show genuine emotion.

AJ groaned as he revived. "Did you get the license on that tank?" he asked the moment he was capable of thinking straight, which bewildered Tezz for a moment before he realized what the Canadian was really asking: a roundabout version of "What happened?"

"Don't you remember anything before we fell unconscious?"

AJ frowned. "Well … we were in the Mobi, about to drive ourselves and Sage out into the Multiverse, because …" He abruptly swore, which startled the Russian for a moment: the extreme sports fan hardly ever cursed. "Krytus! What happened to the others?"

"I do not know." For a nanosecond Tezz considered putting a reassuring hand on his companion's shoulder, but rejected it; it felt too awkward. "Several hours have passed since we blacked out. Somehow we made it out of the Hub, uncloaked, and neither Krytus nor the people of Handler's Corner have found us. We can assume that Vert's mission to destroy the machine was successful."

Nodding in relief, the Canadian looked through the windshield outside – only to frown and start unbuckling his harness. "Are you sure about that, Tezz?"

The Russian frowned as well – he hated it when people doubted him. "Why do you say that?"

Now levered out of his seat and crossing to the glass, the white-blonde teen practically had his face plastered against the transparent material when he replied. "Because this place does _not _look like Handler's Corner – hell, anywhere on Earth for that matter, except maybe the Grand Canyon."

Alarmed – maybe he _had_ been off in his calculations for once – Tezz walked quickly across the bridge (he never ran unless he needed to) and joined the extreme sports enthusiast in peering out the window.

Sure enough, this was a canyon. Yet, to Tezz's eyes, it didn't look like the canyon his companion had mentioned: for one thing, there was no river at the bottom. And surely the Grand Canyon had less space, unlike this place, which could easily house three Mobis side-by-side and still have ample room for more cars between its sandstone walls.

And the Grand Canyon _definitely _didn't have biomechanical hybrids of kangaroos and elephants staring curiously at the place where visitors had been before they'd vanished.

Tezz counted three of them, all of them taller than Krylox by at least a head and as long as the Splitwire from head to tail-tip. Before AJ freaked at the sight of their red eyes and their horns, he managed to notice that the biggest one was covered in scars, possibly indicating that it was an alpha male … or whatever was the equivalent here.

Then – naturally – AJ had to spoil it by slamming down on the Mobi's horn.

The resulting honk deafened Tezz temporarily, and in his irritation he half-expected Sage to revive. Sadly, that didn't happen, and to make matters worse, the animals – startled by the noise from nowhere – took off, leaving only dust in their wake and the horn's echo resounding multiple times.

Somehow oblivious to the death-glare now leveled in his direction, the Gearslammer's driver slumped down in a seat. Even through the ringing in his ears the genius could hear what left his mouth next.

"We are _so _not on Earth anymore."

**XxX**

**Location: Southern Islands, Matoran Universe**

Consciousness returned to Kytren the way it always did: quickly and painfully. The Red Sentient let the faintest of groans escape his lips as he sat up, checking his shell for any injuries. Tiny cracks in a Sentient shell would be repaired automatically, and would not result in a trip to the Respawn Chambers, but major injuries – the equivalent of a broken leg, for example, or a blast to their sternums – were sure-fire ways for their life force to be released.

Thankfully, the damage was minor: his only issues were in his head, manifested by a headache. The Vylirex had been shattered by the landing, but it was no issue: the energy that made it up had retreated back inside himself, waiting for him to recreate his vehicle. Free to look around, the RS5's Scout stiffly got back to his feet. The very idea of him feeling stiff was almost like blasphemy – he was the quickest, more agile member of the team – but that was the least of Kytran's worries.

The portal had dropped him and the rest of the Red Sentients into some barren place, flat and rocky with little vegetation. The wreckage of the machine that had been the focus of their labors for the last few hours were not far away from where he had awakened, with Krytus intact and wrestling his way out. Kyburi and Kyrosys – their own vehicles destroyed and back inside them – were still unconscious, but it was Krylox he was most concerned about, though he would never say so out loud.

Alone of the five, Krylox had not been sheltered in some sort of solid structure, whether that was a vehicle or the machine. Prepared for the worst, the Scout made quick, deliberate movements around the area, growing steady and relaxed again, scanners searching out for the familiar life force of the hot-tempered giant. For a few moments Kytren found no trace of him, and he was just about to think that the Tech Officer had returned to his Respawn Chamber after all when the ground rumbled beneath his feet.

Most would think it was an earthquake, but Kytren knew better. For a nanosecond the faintest of smiles appeared on his face before he turned around, looking impassive as the Synataur rolled up before him and vanished back inside Krylox's body. Landing with a heavy thud, Krylox acknowledged the Scout's presence with a curt nod before addressing Krytus, who had now freed himself from the machine.

"I've run scans of the area. There do not seem to be any significant life forms on this planet."

Krytus lifted one hand up: in it was the mask that had started the whole mess. For a moment Kytren was seized with the impulse to rip it from his friend's grip and snap it into as many pieces as possible, but the revival of Kyrosys and Kyburi dragged their attention away from the thing. The Alpha Hunter and Weapons Master had been lying far closer together than they would if they had their own way, and both snarled primal warnings at each other as they climbed back to their feet.

"No sign of Sage's Humans?" Krytus asked, turning his attention away from the others and back to Krylox.

"None. We are alone."

"This not Earth," Kytren broke in, his eyes still riveted on the mask and toying with the idea of destroying it. "Earth not empty."

Kyburi's head abruptly snapped around like it was on a three-sixty swivel, allowing her to stare over her shoulder at a place ten feet from where she stood. The rest of the RS5 fell silent at her actions, realizing that her attention had been directed at a possible eavesdropper, and let the Alpha Hunter do her work.

The female Red Sentient stayed in that position for a few moments, then spun around the rest of the way and lunged, claws first. There was a brief struggle that kicked up some dust, and when it cleared, Kyburi had subdued and absorbed the life-force of the unwanted guest.

It was a large, copper-brown creature, looking something like a four-legged, biomechanical spider with giant mandibles. A concave place on its back indicated a place where a natural weapon could be attached, though Kyrosys himself could not identify what the weapon could be. Spinnerets were located both in a second jaw and where a normal spider would have them, and – as none of the other Red Sentients had noticed it before Kyburi had killed the creature – had a very effective form of camouflage.

"I agree with Kytren: this is not Earth," the Alpha Hunter said, lugging the animal up off the ground and speaking as if what had just happened was completely normal. "All the creatures of Earth are organic by nature. This is not."

"Kyrosys," Krytus said, holding out the mask far more delicately than needed, "what happened?"

The Weapons Master glanced from the monstrous arachnid that Kyburi had killed to the mask, to the landscape and then back to mask, before he replied. "My theory is this: in tapping into this artifact's power at the same time the Battle Force used their Battlekey, their powers combined and reacted, similar to the effect of many Battlekeys being destroyed at the same time. We could be anywhere in the Multiverse, possibly in an unexplored dimension."

Four heads nodded in silent agreement. All of them knew that the extent of the Multiverse could be measured as infinity times infinity, for lack of a simpler explanation. Even in the glory days of the Sentients there had been unexplored regions, and the wars between the races had resulted in the loss of much of their recorded knowledge. Kyrosys – before he had taken up weapons-building in the wars – had been one of the best explorers, so his knowledge was far more extensive than his companions'.

"As far as I can see," he now concluded, "unless we can access the mask's powers again, or find a rift portal, we will not be able to return to our homeworld – or get to Earth."

"The machine doesn't work anymore," Krytus broke in. "I scanned it before I cut myself out. Even if we still could use it, we would need to obtain new energy sources."

"What do you propose, then?" Krylox asked.

"Find a place for us to set up a base. We drive north."

Without any ado, the Red Sentients formed their machines of war and raced off, Krytus at its head with the mask in his cab and Kyrosys and Kytren beside him, Kyburi and Krylox bringing up the rear and running full scans, looking for any trace of something that would be of interest.

Behind where they had been, over the discarded body of the arachnid, another one of its kind appeared with a shimmer in the air. After dragging the body into a crevice and webbing it up, it skittered off to the east.

Its Masters would be very interested in what it had seen.

**XxX**

**A/N: **For the record, I am unaware if caffeine exists in the Matoran Universe, so the "magical substance" that Alvis uses to remain perky all the time is still a mystery. =P Apologies for the long wait for this, but I had to cut out a part that dealt with the rest of the BF5 so this would arrive somewhat on time. I also had some difficulties with the RS5's scene.

(For the non-Bionicle fans: the creatures Tezz and AJ saw were Kikanalo, while the creature Kyburi killed was a Roporak, one of the many breeds of Visorak.)

-Inferna


End file.
